Communicating uncertainty in GDP estimates

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Communicating uncertainty in GDP estimates

The UK economy has been affected by some unprecedented events in recent years, with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic followed immediately by the huge rise in energy costs due to the war in the Ukraine. For the ONS, these have increased the challenge of producing economic statistics that are both fast and accurate. Dramatic changes in the underlying data tend to bring added uncertainty to our initial estimates. As Craig McLaren explains, we are exploring ways to better portray this in our statistical outputs.   

Measuring Climate Impacts on Health

Tree with Right hand side full of leaves on health patch of grass and the other half is dead with no leaves on a dried up patch of mud

Climate related emergencies have made frequent headlines over the last few years, from record heatwaves and wildfires, to increased flood risk – but how can we measure how our climate, and the changes we are seeing, are affecting us?
Without this evidence, we cannot know the true health burden of climate change. This is where the ONS Climate & Health Project fits in – a four-year project, funded by Wellcome, which we began in February 2022. As we pass the project mid-way point, Gillian Flower reflects on the achievements so far, and the wider implications of this important work.

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Big Ticket Items: How ONS is transforming its measures of inflation 

Picture of row of terraced houses

Today marks an important step in the ONS’s transformation journey, with the launch of new private housing rents statistics. Utilising far more data points than before, these new measures allow us to measure both the level and rate of change in rental prices right down to local authority areas. Chris Jenkins tells us about these new figures as well as our new data source for measuring the prices of second-hand cars.   

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